McDonald’s Planning Mighty Wings for Fall?

[Update: Following publication of this post, McDonald’s confirmed that it will roll out Mighty Wings nationally as an LTO on Sept. 9, 2013. Available through November, the bone-in chicken wings will be sold in 3, 5, and 10 pieces starting at $2.99. The company did not address other items mentioned in the operator’s Facebook post.Mighty Wings come with an assortment of nine sauces including Chipotle Barbeque Sauce, Creamy Ranch Sauce, Honey Mustard Sauce, Hot Mustard Sauce, Spicy Buffalo Sauce, Sweet Chili Sauce, Sweet ‘N Sour Sauce, Honey and Tangy Barbeque Sauce.]

Burger King may be stepping back from introducing multi-item seasonal menus but McDonald’s apparently still finds the strategy appealing. Before it disappeared, a post on one McDonald’s operator’s Facebook page excitedly outlined some of the fall menu items in the “robust new-product pipeline” the chain likes to tout.

McDonald’s Corp. officials could not be reached for comment so it isn’t certain that bone-in chicken wings will be introduced nationally this fall; it could be a regional test. But there are other indications that a national move is planned. One is that McDonald’s Corp. filed a U.S. federal trademark registration on Aug. 15, 2013, for “Mighty Wing.”

McDonald’s first, but briefly, tested chicken wings in the 1990s before reviving them in July 2012 in Atlanta. The test moved to Chicago in January 2013. In Atlanta the wings were priced at $3.29 for a 3-piece pack. In Chicago, McDonald’s priced the 3-wings pack a bit lower, at $2.99. The pricing model to be used this fall can’t be determined.